Until You...

“See you later, Nicole!” Becky, the front receptionist, called as she walked out of the office.

“Bye!” Nicole called back even though Becky had already left but Nicole didn’t care. She was far too happy to notice.

When she had gotten home last night from the party, Nicole had checked her phone to find a message from Henry awaiting her.

I’m sorry I keep rushing to get away every time we meet. Why don’t you meet me at my apartment tomorrow night and we will have a Harry Potter-athon.

As she read the text, Nicole felt her stomach do flips. It wasn’t till she saw the stupid face she was making in the mirror that she reminded herself to not get too excited. Henry was a cute boy who was fun to talk to but she barely knew him. She didn’t even know his last name! Plus the last two times she had talked to him, he seemed distracted. And yet…the way he said her name made her feel like the happiest girl in the world. That had to be something and one more chance wouldn’t kill her. Before she could argue herself out of it, she had sent back a message to Henry telling him she was in.

Since then, Henry had been texting her regularly all day making her a distracted goofy mess all through work. Thankfully the day was over and she was going to be able to go home to the apartment that she shared with Ellie, her sister.

When she finally reached her apartment door, it flung opened before Nicole could even put her key inside the lock. Nicole gave a startled jump back and saw the older version of herself smiling widely at the door frame.

“Hi?” Nicole giggled.

“You won’t believe what I did for you.” Ellie smiled down at her younger sister.

“What?” Nicole asked suspiciously.

Ellie rolled her eyes at her sister’s response and pulled out what she was hiding behind her back.

“Tickets?” Nicole asked confused.

“Not just any tickets.” Ellie told her with a smile.

Nicole excitedly snatched the tickets out of her sister’s hand to inspect them but quickly dropped them as if it burned her making her sister laugh. Nicole was at a loss for words as she stared down at the tickets on the floor and saw Darren Criss’s name stare back at her. After a few seconds of making sure she wasn’t misreading the name, Nicole let out a loud squeal and hugged her sister.

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” Nicole said excitedly while jumping up and down.

“I couldn’t allow my sister to come all the way to L.A and not see her favorite star.”

“You’re the best big sister ever!” Nicole said and hugged Ellie again.

“I know, I know. Come on; let’s go shopping before the show. We are going to make you look like a true L.A starlet.” Ellie smiled, linking arms with her sister and dragging her out to the L.A streets.

Shopping was something Nicole didn’t care for but shopping with her sister was something that she would die for. She and her sister were only a few years apart allowing them to be best friends since birth. When Ellie had moved to L.A after getting a fantastic job offer from E!, Nicole took the first opportunity she had to move in with her sister. She even planned on transferring colleges so she would be in L.A. with her sister instead Chicago by herself.

“How about this one?” Ellie asked thoughtfully.

Nicole turned around from the rack she was searching to see her sister holding up a super short blue dress.

“No!” Nicole laughed and shook her head.

“Fine,” Ellie pouted and put the dress back.

Nicole resumed searching the racks for something appropriate for the night’s events. She was so excited to see Darren Criss live at a concert that every now and then she would do a little jig. She knew dressing up and looking good was silly, Nicole wasn’t that delusional to think she stood a chance with Darren, but it was her first L.A. concert and she was going to make the best of it.

“How about this one?” Ellie called from the other side of the store.

“If it is shorter than my t-shirt then the answer is no, Ellie!” Nicole called without turning around.

“It’s not!” Ellie promised.

Nicole sighed and turned around to see what her sister was holding. To her surprise, Nicole loved it. Ellie was holding up a black dress that was covered in lace with a vintage inspired silhouette.

“Perfect.” Nicole smiled.

“Well, try it on!” Ellie demanded and handed her sister the dress.

Nicole complied and went back to the dressing rooms. As soon as she slid the dress over her form, she knew she was in love. She glanced at herself in the mirror and was delighted to see that the dressed was a perfect fit. It hugged her body at the top and flowed away at the bottom, making her appear skinnier.

“Let me see!” Ellie called outside the door.

With one last look in the mirror, Nicole opened the dressing door to show her sister. From the small gasp and golf clap, Nicole gathered her sister liked it as well.

“It’s perfect,” Ellie agreed.

After changing back to her regular cloths, Nicole and Ellie headed to the check out where they paid for their purchases. Nicole bought the black dress along with a pair of dark red flats and her sister bought the short blue dress along with a pair of sliver heels.

“I can’t believe you’re going to wear that.” Nicole shook her head.

“The gig is at a club! You never know who you’ll meet.” Ellie shrugged.

This earned her an eye roll from Nicole but they both dissolved into giggles making them seem far younger than 22 and 25. They walked hand and hand back to their apartment still giggling. It wasn’t until they were inside their apartment that they stopped giggling long enough to run towards the bathroom, fighting to see who would get to use it first. Luckily, Nicole had a big butt and pushed her sister out the bathroom door with it before giving a victorious “HA!” and shutting the door.

“Rude!” Ellie banged on the door but laughed to show that she didn’t mind all too much.

It took two hours for the both of them to get ready, with a lot of dancing and giggling in between. Finally at 9:00p.m they were both standing in the living room mirror putting on the final touches.

“You look hot!” Nicole gushed as she looked her sister up and down.

“You look beautiful!” Ellie commented back with a smile.

“Thanks.” Nicole smiled back.

“You ready?” Ellie asked after putting on nude lipstick.

Nicole gave a sigh and looked at herself in the mirror. For some reason she felt nervous for tonight and she had no idea why. It was just a concert even if the person playing was Darren Criss.

“Yeah, let’s go.” Nicole nodded her head and followed her sister out the door.

The cab ride to the club was one of the most nervous rides of Nicole’s life and she had no idea why. She was excited about listening to Darren Criss sing but she wasn’t one to be fan crazy. For some reason she felt like something important was going to happen tonight. When the taxi finally pulled up to the club, the sister’s got out and Ellie paid the driver.

“Wow.” Nicole said simply as she looked at the long line into the club even though it was
still early.

“Yeah, this is crazy.” Ellie shook her head in disbelief and walked to the front of the line.

Nicole followed her sister guiltily feeling bad that they would be let in automatically because of her sister’s job while everyone else had to wait. The thought was immediately thrown aside as she stepped into the door way and was assaulted by loud music coursing its way throughout the club.

“Let’s go get drinks!” Ellie yelled over the music and lead the way over to the bar.

They both ordered martinis and made their way to the V.I.P seats her sister had secured.
Nicole was surprised by all the perks her sister’s job gave them.

“Here’s to my baby sister finally going out in L.A.!” Ellie toasted.

With one big gulp, they both finished their drinks making Nicole feel a warm rush throughout her body. Normally, Ellie was the big drinker but Nicole hoped that it would calm her but all it did was amplify her nervous energy.

“Let’s go dance!” Nicole suggested and grabbed her sister’s hand before she received an answer.

They made their way to the crowed dance floor and pushed their way to the stage where a DJ was spinning. Darren Criss couldn’t come on for another hour or so and Nicole knew that if she didn’t get some of the excitement off of her, she would be a crazy fan girl when he came on. It took four very long songs before Nicole finally started really enjoying herself. She even danced with a guy who she was positive was gay. He was just excited about seeing Darren as she was.

“Look!” He yelled excitedly and pointed towards the stage.

Nicole whipped her head around to see a mass of curly dark hair walking on to the stage with a guitar in hand. Instantly the room snapped its attention to the stage and the DJ faded the music out. Nicole’s nervous energy came back as she anticipated her first good look at Darren Criss and wondered if he would look the same in person. Finally, after what seemed like a life time of setting up, Darren Criss walked into the spotlight and smiled brightly at the audience. At just a smile the audience flew into a frenzy of clapping and cheering. For Nicole, the room seemed to be spinning around her as she looked up at the figure on stage.

“Henry?”